Happyness

+ Her's + Savage Mansion

When Happyness first burst into the public conscience with 2013’s debut single It’s On You, their spirited take on US college rock was as big a surprise as it was an instant hit. The result-ing full length, Weird Little Birthday, went on to feature in many of 2014’s End of Year al-bum lists. Worldwide tours, an NME Award, a re-issue on the much-loved labels Moshi Moshi Recordings (Bar/None in US), and millions of Spotify plays later, it is with some an-ticipation now that the band finally reveal the full details of the follow-up.

Titled “Write In”, released on April 7th through Moshi Moshi Recordings (Bar/None in US) and featuring artwork from the band’s own Jon EE Allan, the record was made in the band’s own studio above a now-abandoned bookshop, then finished and mixed with Adam Lasus at his LA home studio. “Write In” sets its stall out as an outward looking, inventive, and thoughtful progression from their debut. Drawing on an array of influences including Roxy Music, The Beach Boys, Randy Newman, Sonic Youth, Big Star and Pierre Cavalli, the direc-tion is best summed up by Jon EE Allan; “I’d like to think this record looks outside the little American alt-rock sphere we were looking in on. I think we used to be very afraid of being earnest. And now we’re able to be tender or heartfelt without feeling too guilty about it. This record cost us about £500 to make, and that was mainly spent on an 8 track tape re-corder and a dehumidifier. We self-produced it in our studio [the affectionately named 'Jel-ly Boy Studios', where the band also recorded their debut, 'Weird Little Birthday']. The building's being redeveloped at the end of the year, so this is the last record we'll make there, which feels like the end of a chapter for us.”

Ahead of the album release, new single “Falling Down” now has an official video, a disorien-tating and retro 7-minute spectacle, as guitarist Benji Compston explains; “A friend of ours manages a cinema (shoutout Nyla!) and she gets free use of it every Monday night when the public have left. We showed up at midnight with an old TV and some musical equip-ment and a vague plan to shoot a Spiegel Im Spiegel effect with the cinema screens. Special credit should probably also go to the coffee machine.”

Line Up

Happyness are a 3 piece band from South London, formed of multi-instrumentalists Ash Cooper, Benji Compston and Jon EE Allan.

After forming in early 1973, the band went on hiatus pending their births and the sufficient progress of the affordable digital audio interface market. Regrouping in 2013, the band spent Saturday nights playing under a railway bridge in Bermondsey. By mid-2013, having written “most of an album” they rented out an unused church with the intention of setting up a studio and finishing the record there. That ended after less than a week with only one song tracked - they were driven out by “the bitter cold and an unconvinced congregation of the dead”. (Unintentionally significantly the song was “Baby, Jesus (Jelly Boy)”).

Relocating to their affectionately named “Jelly Boy Studios” (a one-time carpentry warehouse and butterfly commune an hour or so outside of London), the band self-produced their debut album and the songs that would become their debut EP.

Before the recording sessions, the band had played a handful of shows under a variety of names (“something to put on the flyers”), but the name Happyness wasn’t used until November 2013, when the band started playing live in the build up to the release of their eponymous EP – mixed by Ed Harcourt.

The album – “Weird Little Birthday” - was mixed by Adam Lasus (Yo La Tengo, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) and features Ed Harcourt singing on "Pumpkin Noir". They have made various attempts to spread the rumour that Jon EE Allan is the forgotten son and heir to the Terry Richardson empire, but those have all failed pretty conclusively.

Their approach to writing and recording music means that roles within the band are fairly fluid, but Jon EE Allan and Benji Compston do lead vocals and Ash Cooper does drums.

Her's are a Liverpool based pop duo consisting of Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading.

As outsiders from sleepy coastal towns on different coastlines, Stephen Fitzpatrick from Barrow in Furness and Norwegian Audun Laading met for the first time in Liverpool as students. The pair bonded over a love of peculiar, sardonic humour and wide eyed observations. Dream-pop outfit Her’s is the natural extension to the solitary decoding of the cultures they grew up in.

Her’s craft the kind of perfect oddball pop that has seen them already draw effusive praise from the blogosphere for their colourful craftsmanship. Ostensibly off-kilter enough to slide into the headphones of anybody with a penchant for Ariel Pink or Mac DeMarco, Her’s go above and beyond the current British indie vocabulary.

After just 3 singles, the band has clocked over 1.5 Million plays on Spotify, and featured heavily in playlists such as 'New Music Friday’, 'Global Viral 50', and 'US Viral 50', as well as 'Best of the Week' and ‘The A–List' at Apple Music. They’ve amassed some great online coverage too from the likes of Stereogum, The Line Of Best Fit, DIY, and Gold Flake Paint, as well as radio play from Huw Stephens, Annie Mac, Phil Taggart, Lauren Laverne, John Kennedy and Shaun Keaveny. They've just wrapped up a great Summer of live shows, including performances at Green Man and Kendal Calling, and recently had their music featured in videos by BuzzFeed and Urban Outfitters.

The band are set to release debut 8-track collection 'Songs of Her's' on 12th May 2017 via Heist or Hit, with new single 'Speed Racer' out now.